The Florida League of Women Voters (LWVF) said that, “Meaningful health care reform is a fiscal imperative for families, businesses and the economy”, in a statement released today.
The statement noted that, the United States spends more per person than any other system, that is $1 out of every $6 earned on health care, this amounts to 15% of GNP when compared with 8-10 % for countries in Europe; furthermore, it’s almost twice as much as Canada, which pays for health care for everyone in the country.
According to the release, “The high costs are crippling our ability to compete in the global market and our ability to rebound from this recession”.
And what do our high costs get us?
According to the League, as a nation, we pay more and get less. Our life expectancy–an indicator of health and the health care system– is shorter than the life expectancy in at least 30 other nations, including England, Canada, and Japan. Our health care system gives us a life expectancy comparable to that of Costa Rica and Cuba.
“In a nutshell, America has too many people uninsured, too many people without access to timely preventive care, and too many people using expensive emergency health care especially for conditions which could have been addressed earlier with less costly primary care”, said the League.
The League of Women Voters believes that health reform is needed. However, there needs first to be a meaningful, factual discussion on the issue without fear mongering. “We can pay for it, as a priority, with savings of billions of dollars from redesigning where we are spending our medical dollars. We pay too much now in administrative costs (10-25% of the national health care bill), lack of access to primary care (10% of all costly hospitalizations), and unnecessary care driven by fees for service incentives. We are already paying, but we are paying too much, too late, on the wrong sides of the health equation”.
The League of Women Voters also believes that, quality, affordable health care should be available to all U.S. residents. If Congress passes reform that does not tackle the problems of excessive administrative spending and unnecessary care, major revisions will be required in the future. America is capable of solving the challenge: providing access to a basic level of quality care for all U.S. residents while controlling costs.
According to the League, “reform of this broken system necessitates a public option. Medicare, Tricare (for military) and the Veteran’s Administration are examples of public health care, available for targeted segments of the population, with high levels of satisfaction. The public option creates access to coverage to those whom the insurance companies have tried to avoid — those who need care the most because of preexisting conditions. The public option is the best chance we have to control costs, provide options and competition to private plans, and improve the overall health of our nation”.
“What can you do? Get the facts. Find out what’s working around the world, and let’s fashion a system that can one day be studied by others as one that works for all in a cost efficient and humane manner”, read the statement.
For an in-depth analysis of Myths and Facts to help you become more informed, visit www.TheFloridaVoter.org
with support from Ann Campbell, LWVF Health Care Chair, and Nancy Rudner, LWVF
You did a terrific job! This post seem extremely wonderful.